The Intersection 3/1

Quick summary:

Trump’s wild and unfocused cutting of federal funds across the board for the sake of “efficiency” could impact legal services that low-income people need in cases ranging from housing and eviction to child custody and domestic violence, not to mention criminal cases. Legal nonprofits haven’t started shuttering their doors yet, but there is a fear they will have to.

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Hey, y’all,

The Trump administration’s cuts are affecting countless government programs, 

but most people might overlook threats to legal aid organizations around the country that service millions who cannot otherwise afford legal services in civil and criminal proceedings. 

As many as 1 million adults and 810,000 children were given legal help in 2023 by grantees under the Legal Services Corp., a nonprofit established by Congress to give legal assistance to low-income Americans. About 71 percent of that number were women, 38 percent were white, and nearly 60 percent were people of color.Organizations that provide these services are facing potential stop-work orders, much like the one issued by a White House executive order that prevented legal aid organizations from providing services to people federal detention centers and immigration courts. That was reversed, along with another for groups that give legal aid to migrant children.

“Millions of people are living in or near poverty in this country and tens of millions are eligible for this kind of service,” said Radhika Singh, vice president, Civil Legal Services and Strategic Policy Initiatives for the National Legal Aid & Defender Association.

Still, at the rate executive orders and funding freezes are coming from the White House, there’s no telling if more will affect the legal aid field. This could mean threats to organizations like Iowa Legal Aid, or North Mississippi Rural Legal Services Inc., which help people not only with public defenders in criminal cases, but also when they need help in civil cases like eviction, obtaining health care, and even child custody.Singh says a cutoff of funding at many agencies, would leave people who have few resources with even fewer and put them at risk.